The Carp and the Bud
by pika318
Summary: A story that any parent might tell their child. The story of how the child's parents met and got married. Chapter 6: Omake
1. Shopping

**Pika318: **So this idea was sprouted after thinking about Rihan and Wakana, and since there are practically no scenes with Wakana and Rikuo interacting anymore, so the setting of this story would be Wakana telling Rikuo about her and Rihan's relationship. This is my first attempt at a NuraMago fic though, so please be kind with me.

**Disclaimer: **Nurarihyon no Mago belongs to Shiibashi-sensei.

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><p><strong>Chapter 1: <strong>Shopping

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><p>"I'm off!"<p>

"Ah, are you really sure you don't need help?" Kejorou asked worriedly.

"It's not a long list, so I'll be fine!" Wakana replied cheerfully before leaving the kitchen, basket in hand.

Normally, Tsurara or Kejorou would do the grocery shopping, but ever since Rikuo became the Third, Tsurara would be busy helping out the Arawashi Clan at the marketplace, leaving Kejorou to handle the kitchen by herself most of the time. It was a rather tiring job. So when Wakana walked past the kitchen and saw Kejorou holding the grocery list, she volunteered to do the shopping instead.

Just as she strolled through the yard towards the front door, she saw someone walking up the path. Brown hair and eyes, and a middle school uniform. It was her son, Nura Rikuo.

"Rikuo!" Wakana called out cheerfully, waving her free hand.

Rikuo, hearing his name, looked towards the gate, and quickened his walking pace until he reached her.

"Mom, I'm home." Rikuo greeted cheerfully.

"Welcome home, dear. Isn't Tsurara with you today?"

"Oh, she went to help out at the marketplace again." Seeing his mother carrying a basket, he added, "Are you going shopping?"

"Yep, to get the groceries. Poor Kejorou-san looked so tired out that I offered to buy the groceries instead. I'll be back home soon, don't worry." Wakana replied. Even though she wasn't good at cooking, she was at least confident in her skills at buying and carrying groceries.

Rikuo appeared to think for a while. Then he said, "Can you wait for a while? I'll go put my things down first, then let's go shopping together."

Wakana looked surprised at that.

"Eh? You don't have to do that, Rikuo. You're so busy with school and handling the family, you should go get some rest while you can. Your mom can handle the groceries." She replied hurriedly, trying to reassure her son that she will be fine by herself.

"It's fine. I can help you carry the groceries in case they're too heavy, and…well…it's been a while since we had talked properly, after all." Rikuo said, looking rather embarrassed. He probably thought that he sounded like a young child asking for his mother's company.

Realisation dawned on Wakana then after hearing what Rikuo said. She never really thought about it, but it was true. Ever since Rikuo left for Kyoto, both of them never really spent quality time together after that. She had become so used to being left at home and not interfering with youkai matters to the point that when she saw Rikuo getting closer to Tsurara and the rest, she had thought that she was no longer needed. He had so many other family members he could rely on after all.

But seeing the scene in front of her, she knew that she had thought wrong. Rikuo was still a developing child, and that he needed his parent's company. And without his father…

"I understand. Go then, I'll wait for you here." Wakana replied, smiling. Secretly, she was happy that Rikuo still needed her.

Hearing her answer, Rikuo brightened up considerably. Then he ran into the house, towards his room.

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><p><em>Five minutes or so later<em>

Wakana and Rikuo strolled down the path away from their home. Rikuo seemed happy just being together with his mother, and it didn't seem like he was going to say anything soon. To be honest, that only made Wakana more nervous.

_I can't believe it. We managed to spend some time together after so long, and yet, I can't think of anything to say! What kind of mother am I? Erhm…I…I have to say something!_

Wakana opened her mouth slowly, and pretty much said the first thing that came to mind.

"So Rikuo, how's school so far? Everything's well?"

She might have sounded calm and casual when she said that, but her mind was pretty much in turmoil.

_I can't believe it. We managed to spend some time together after so long, and yet, the first thing I ask about is school? What kind of mother am I? Erhm…I…I have to say something else!_

"I mean, you have school, and yet you still have to manage so many things at home, I'm just worried you might be unable to cope and overwork yourself." Wakana added, concern evident in her voice.

"Thank you for worrying about me, mom. But I'm fine. I have everyone helping me after all." Rikuo answered with a small smile.

"Oh, that's great then. Still, don't push yourself too hard, rest when you have to, okay?"

"I know, mom, thanks."

"… …"

There was a long pause, before Wakana laughed awkwardly, finally admitting her defeat.

"Eh heh…it's strange, it's been so long since we last talked properly, and I thought we might have a lot to talk about, yet, I can't think of anything to say at all."

_Have we really drifted apart that much?_

Rikuo observed his mother, who had a look of slight worry on her face. Then he said,

"Actually, I've been thinking of something for a while…"

Rikuo scratched his cheek, as though he was thinking of how to word his sentences properly.

"Why did you marry Dad?"

"Eh?"

Rikuo continued speaking, trying to clarify his reason for asking.

"Well…when I was in Kyoto, I met and heard about Yamabuki Otome. And well…she was dad's first wife, and it seemed like he really loved her a lot…" The more he spoke, the softer he became, like he had just realized something with every word that came out of his mouth.

_Wait, does mom even know about dad having a first wife?_

Seeing the look of panic on Rikuo's face, Wakana laughed and said in a rather cheerful voice.

"Oh, Yamabuki-san? I did hear your father speak about her before, you don't have to worry about saying something you shouldn't. So, why the sudden curiousity?"

"Um…well, while fighting in Kyoto, I ended up remembering some things about dad…then I realized I didn't know a lot about him at all. So…"

Wakana giggled, interrupting Rikuo who was trying to explain himself. "So after all that, you just want to hear your parent's love story? You're such a cute son."

"Eh, that's not really it…"

"Ah, it's fine. I haven't told anyone else about it, but that's because all the older youkai knew about it, since they were always around. And isn't this the sort of story a parent would always tell their child one day in one form or another? So where should I start?"

"Anywhere you want, I guess."

Wakana placed a hand on her cheek, thinking. After a while, she said,

"I guess I'll just start with how we met then."

"Oh okay."

With both of them still quite some distance from the nearest market, Wakana simply decided to tell her story from the beginning.

"Well, a long time ago, when I was still in high school, my house was frequently haunted by youkai. And because of that, I was left without any parents."

Rikuo nodded solemnly hearing that.

"And after that, being the only one left in the house, my life was in danger. That was then I met your father."

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><p><strong>Pika318: <strong>So this is the prologue. I write short chapters, I know that, but I hope you like it so far, the next chapter would be the actual flashback story. So…Moko-chan, what do you think?

**Moko-Chan**: .w. It's the kind of story I would read…. Now continue writing.


	2. Visiting

**Pika318: **Thank you for all your reviews for Chapter 1! As well as those who put this story on their favourites or alerts list. Here's chapter 2. I'm alternating Wakana's narration and the flashback scenes with every division, hopefully it's still understandable.

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><p><strong>Chapter 2: <strong>Visiting

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><p>"And after that, being the only one left in the house, my life was in danger. That was then I met your father."<p>

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><p>"Gwahhh! How…how could you defeat me…a powerful spirit like me, no…I don't want to…disappear…"<p>

With those words, the spirit faded into nothingness, disappearing from the house which it occupied for decades, driving those who lived in it to their deaths.

The man who brought the spirit's existence to an end slid his spirit blade back into its sheath before he turned to the girl whom the spirit had been haunting all along.

"Are you okay, Miss?" The man with golden eyes and long black hair asked.

"I'm fine. Erhm, thank you so much for helping me." The girl replied, bowing politely.

"It's nothing. I just don't like it when youkai and spirits attack humans."

"Oh I see…but…aren't you something that's not human too? I mean, the way you defeated Spirit-san just now doesn't seem like something a human can do." The girl asked, thinking back to how the man in front of her evaded the spirit's attacks.

"You're right, I'm a youkai, but that doesn't mean that I will approve of humans being attacked in my territory."

The girl did not seem surprised or afraid when she heard his answer, but before she could say anything else, the door opened, revealing another person with blond hair and a scarf. Calling him a person wouldn't be that accurate though, because a normal person wouldn't have a floating head.

"Rihan-sama, there doesn't seem to be any other youkai in the surrounding areas." The blond "person" said.

"Oh thank you, Kubinashi. I guess we can go now then." After saying that, he turned to the girl.

"I hope you'll be safe from now on, now that the spirit is gone." With that, he and the blond "person" simply disappeared.

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><p>"And that was how we met." Wakana concluded cheerfully. "Now that I think about it, he was so cool that time."<p>

Rikuo smiled awkwardly as he watched his mother swoon over his father as she finished her story.

"So…dad saved you when your life was in danger. And both of you dated after that?"

"What are you talking about Rikuo? There's no way things would progress that quickly. We didn't even get each other's name. In fact, I thought that I would never see him again. But after a few days, he actually came back to my house."

"Dad came back to visit you?" Rikuo asked in surprise.

_Wait, this sounds familiar. Don't tell me dad fell in love with mom at first sight, like grandpa and grandmother._

"Yes, I was really surprised too."

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><p>Two days after the spirit disappeared from her house, the girl was finally able to restore her house back to a rather presentable state. Before this, any loose furniture would definitely be overturned or thrown about, and her house was always in disarray.<p>

"Whew." She said, after finally placing a vase of flowers in front of a small altar. Placing her palms together, she offered a greeting to her parents, the first one in months. She was somehow grateful that the spirit never really broke the altar, even though it always stopped her from offering a prayer to her parents.

Just as she finished her greetings, the doorbell rang.

"Hmm? Is it the postman?" she wondered. Besides the postman, she never got any other visitors, especially not at this time of the day. Walking up to the door, she opened it slightly and gave a soft "Oh" in slight surprise.

The person on the other side of the door wasn't the postman, but the man who had helped her two days ago.

"Yo, miss, can I come in?" The man asked. He was polite, but his tone was really casual. The girl found it rather funny.

"Erhm...I guess it's fine." The girl answered, opening the door. As a high school girl, she would normally know better than to let a guy into her own house, especially since she was living alone. But it would be so rude, and ungrateful, to refuse entry to the person who saved your life after all.

The man strolled into the living room, and seemed to give it a once over, as if he was comparing the current state of the room to the room two days back. It made the girl really self conscious.

"I'll…go make some tea. You can take a seat at the table there." She said rather nervously before heading into the small kitchen.

A short while later, she passed the man a mug filled with some instant tea she had in the cupboard. Holding a mug of her own, she sat opposite him. Both of them seemed to be waiting for the other to speak, resulting in a rather awkward silence as they stared (or tried not to) at one another. The man decided to break the silence first.

"So, has anything been bothering you?" He asked.

The girl looked up when she heard that question, confused. "You mean…besides my studies and finances?"

The man paused for a while, raising an eyebrow at her answer. "No, I was actually referring to the spirits."

The girl gave a look of realization. "Oh so that was what you're referring to… No, ever since you got rid of the one in this house, it's been really peaceful here." Once she said that, she gave another "oh", like she just remembered something.

"Oh no, where are my manners? I forgot to introduce myself, my name is Wakana. What's your name, sir?"

"…It's Rihan, Nura Rihan"

"Oh, so it's Rihan-san then. Well, now that we know each other's name, I guess we can talk properly now." Wakana said, smiling.

There was a long pause before Rihan spoke again.

"Aren't you afraid of me?" he asked.

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Wakana asked, confused.

"Well, since you've been haunted by a malicious spirit for so long, I fully expected you to slam the door in my face just now. But you didn't, and even let me in."

"Why would I do something as rude as that? You did save my life after all, I'm really grateful for your help."

"Even if I'm a youkai?" Rihan asked again.

"Why would that even make a difference? The fact is that you helped me, so you can't be a bad person. Just like how there are good and bad people, there would be good and bad youkai too right?"

"Yeah, you're right." Rihan said

"And after that, we just talked about some things, and he left shortly afterwards." Wakana said.

* * *

><p>"Dad's really shy, huh? That's unexpected." Rikuo commented.<p>

"Hmm, why would that be strange?"

"Well, grandpa's a real flirt, so I thought dad would be the same."

"That's true, I did hear from the rest of the youkai later that your dad was quite a flirt, but he changed after Yamabuki-san left. Maybe that's why. But you know, after he visited me that first time, he started coming over every few days, sometimes every day."

"And you never suspected he might be in love with you already?" Rikuo asked, surprise evident in his voice.

"Hmm, rather than being in love, during that time, it felt more like he just needed a friend, and a listening ear."

"What did both of you talk about?" Rikuo asked. He found it hard to imagine that they would be able to have things to talk about if his father really visited her as frequently as his mother described.

"We asked about each other's day. And he always wanted to know how I was coping, since I lived alone and all."

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><p>"Don't you have any relatives?" Rihan asked. From what he understood from human society, it wasn't normal for a high school student like Wakana to be living alone without any support.<p>

Wakana looked up from her tea.

"Hmm, I do. But I haven't seen them since my parent's funeral. They heard rumors about my parent's death, and well, I guess that they didn't want to take me in, fearing they'll be cursed as well. Who believes in curses anyway, isn't it just the youkai's fault? But I can't do anything about that, and I'm coping fine enough without their help, so it doesn't really matter." Wakana said, smiling.

Rihan was giving a look of disbelief at that time. The girl in front of him doesn't believe in curses, but is totally fine with youkai, now that's strange. Another issue bothered him even more though.

"Aren't you lonely? Living by yourself, without your parents? How…do you manage to continue smiling like that?"

"Of course I'll be lonely sometimes, and I do feel sad that my parents aren't here. But you see? There's really no use being sad like that all the time. My parents are dead, I can't do anything to change that. But unlike them, I'm alive, I still have…70…no maybe I'll live till 90…then at most 80 more years to go. With that much time left, it wouldn't be nice if I spent it being upset and not enjoying what I have right? That wouldn't be fair to my parents, who tried so hard to raise me, and to make sure I wouldn't be affected by the spirit. It's only right that I live my life to the fullest to repay what they did for me…I'm sorry, did I talk too much?"

Wakana asked, seeing the rather confused look on Rihan's face.

"No, you didn't. It's nothing. Thank you."

"Eh? There's no need to thank me, I didn't do anything."

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><p>"After that, he remained quiet for such a long time, staring into the tea. Then he excused himself and left rather suddenly. At that time, I was really worried I said something wrong, but he came back two days later as usual. Well, something about him did change though."<p>

"And that would be?" Rikuo asked, curious.

"When I asked him about his day, he would normally reply with rather vague answers. But that day, he started talking about his family, and about the youkai. And well…promise you won't laugh, Rikuo?"

"Uh okay." Rikuo agreed, confused at how shy his mother was all of a sudden.

"I actually got so curious that I told your dad that I wanted to come along when he went out with his Hyakki."

"Huh? You what?"

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><p><strong>Pika318:<strong> Okay, I'm stopping my chapter here because I'm running out of steam, and I like to divide each stage of their relationship into different chapters. Hope you enjoy it ^^ If Rihan seems too somber and angsty here, I'm sorry. But I think writing a more cheerful and flirtatious Rihan would be way too scary and unnatural. Right, Moko-chan?

Moko-Chan: Yeah…Given that it's probably hard for him to flirt when he's still thinking of Yamabuki. Besides, he only flirts with guys not with the women he loves. :D


	3. Smiling

**Pika318: **And here's chapter 3! Thank you for all the support and reviews so far. I got really motivated by some of them such that I recovered from my mild writer's block. Anyway, enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **Nurarihyon no Mago belongs to Shiibashi-sensei.

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><p><strong>Chapter 3: <strong>Smiling

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><p>"You want to…come along?" Rihan asked, disbelief in his voice.<p>

"Yep!" Wakana replied excitedly. "From what you told me, it should be a really grand sight, right? I really want to see something like that!"

"You're…really strange."

"Hmm…in what way?" Wakana asked, in a rather playful manner.

"You're a human, yet you're not afraid of youkai, and you even want to know more about them." Rihan replied, voicing his thoughts.

"I could say the same for you. You're a youkai, yet not only do you not attack humans, you even made friends with me, a human." Wakana countered.

"That's because I'm only half a youkai."

"Huh? Really?" Now it was Wakana's turn to be surprised.

"Really. My old man is a youkai, but my mother is human. I did have human friends in the past, you know."

"Now that's something new. But that's another thing we can talk about another day. So can I come along?"

Rihan paused as he gave the matter some thought. Because of his mother, the youkai in his Hyakki are rather accepting of humans, so he didn't need to be worried about anyone of them trying to hurt Wakana. But that was not what he was worried about currently. Knowing the…over enthusiasm of some of the youkai, they would definitely misunderstand if he brought Wakana along, and he wasn't ready…

"Rihan-san?"

As Rihan looked up, he almost got the shock of his life. Wakana had leaned across the small table in order to call his name to get his attention, meaning that she was now mere inches from his face. Fighting the urge to scoot backwards in panic, he asked in the calmest tone he could master…

"Is something the matter?"

"I should ask you the same thing, Rihan-san. You were staring into blank space for quite a while now. Actually, if it's really that troublesome to bring me along, you don't have to do it." Wakana suggested, smiling.

Rihan really couldn't understand it. Wakana smiled all the time. She smiles when she is happy, and she smiles when things didn't go her way as well. And even though he would never admit it, he was always reminded of his mother every time Wakana smiled. It was strange. His mother and Wakana did not even look like each other, but the air around them matched perfectly. And the worse thing is that…he could never refuse his mother when she acted the way Wakana is acting now.

"No, that's not it. I just…needed some time to think it over. And…I guess it wouldn't hurt to bring you along after all." Rihan replied, agreeing to Wakana's request. He would explain to the others properly when the time came.

"Really! You're awesome, Rihan-san!" Wakana replied happily.

"Are you sure you won't regret it? Not all youkai are like me, some of them can be really scary." Rihan said, trying to give her a last warning.

"I don't have any reason to be scared. You're with me after all." Wakana replied, smiling happily once again.

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><p>"Dad actually agreed?" Rikuo shouted, but quickly lowered his volume since they were in public. "Why?" he asked.<p>

"Actually, I'm not so sure either. But it looked like your dad thought really long and hard about it, so I didn't ask him for the reason. Anyway, he came to my house later than usual the day after, and when the sun set…"

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><p>Rihan got up from the table. "Well, since the sun has set, let's go then."<p>

"Go, go where?"

"Have you forgotten already? I'm going out with my Hyakki, and you're coming along."

"Huh? At least give me a warning if we're going today…" Wakana protested.

"Whatever for? It's not as if you need to bring anything."

"Ah, forget it, let's go then." Wakana said as she stood up as well. Then both of them left the house.

_Twenty minutes later_

"Yo, everyone." Rihan called out to the others.

All the youkai were some distance away from the Nura Gumi mansion, wondering why Rihan asked them to gather outside after the sun set and wait for his return. Turning towards Rihan's voice, they were about to greet him when all of them noticed the extra person beside him. It was a girl, around 16 or 17 years old. From their perspective, she looked rather shy, seemed to be practically hiding behind their leader, and…a human.

"WHATT?" most of them shouted in unison. What had their leader been doing when they weren't watching?

Kubinashi was the one who took action first. Pulling Rihan slightly to the side, he asked, as politely as he could manage…

"What is the meaning of this, Rihan-sama?"

"Hmm, the meaning of what?" Rihan replied casually, even though he knew exactly what or who Kubinashi was referring to.

"Her!" Kubinashi almost shouted, but restrained himself.

"Oh, she wanted to come so I brought her along."

"Just like that? Isn't she the girl you saved a while back? Do you want to scare her off or something?"

"Yeah, we've been talking. And no, she's not afraid of us anyway." Rihan replied.

Kubinashi turned to Wakana. Instead of being afraid, she was already approaching some of the smaller youkai and trying to chat with them, smiling the whole time.

"Is that what you've been frequently disappearing for? Ah, never mind, since she's already here. Just don't surprise us like that again." Normally, Kubinashi would have nagged him a lot longer than this. But frankly, he had thought that Rihan had been searching for Yamabuki, and finding out that he was just visiting a human girl seemed to be a good deal in comparison.

"Sure…hey Wakana, let me introduce you to them." Rihan agreed and called out to Wakana.

_Two hours later_

"So, did you enjoy yourself?" Rihan asked as he accompanied Wakana back to her house.

"Yes! It was rather overwhelming at first, but your family members were so nice, so I really enjoyed myself a lot in the end."

"Hmm, that's good."

Wakana was silent for a long while, then she said…

"Thank you for bringing me along today, Rihan-san. I was alone for a long time, but meeting you, and your family members drove that loneliness away. I'll treasure this experience forever."

"What are you talking about? If you really like it that much, you can join us as many times as you like."

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><p>"Wow, was that a confession?" Rikuo asked in amazement.<p>

"A confession? I didn't think of it as a love confession then, just your dad being nice." Wakana confessed. "But you're right, it does sound like one, now that you mentioned it."

"So you really started to follow dad when he went out with his Hyakki?"

"Well, not all the time of course. But enough to know that something was wrong." Wakana said. Then seeing Rikuo's confused face, she explained herself further.

"You see. When I first met your dad, he was like what I said earlier, somber. I actually thought that was normal, then I started noticing that the other youkai always watched him with a worried or sad look in their eyes, Kubinashi especially so. And well, I guess I already started liking your dad more and more then, so I thought, maybe he wasn't like this at all in the past. Maybe he was actually a cheerful person. So…"

Rikuo waited for his mother to continue.

"So I decided to cheer him up somehow, in any way I can think of."

* * *

><p>"Rihan-san, you're making an unhappy face again!" Wakana said is mock anger as they flew through the night sky. "Come on, smile! Happiness comes to those who smile, doesn't it?" And without waiting for Rihan to react, Wakana simply reached out, grabbed his cheeks and stretched them, earning a surprised look from all the youkai around them.<p>

Due to the forced action, and the pain, and the fact that it wasn't the first time Wakana did such a thing, Rihan kept that forced expression for a while longer, causing Wakana to cheer.

"Yay! Rihan-san smiled!" She said, sunshine shining all around her.

Rihan did not understand why she seemed so determined to make him smile lately. But when he asked her the first time she did such a thing, she only said, "You have such a good looking face, being glum all the time is wasted on you!" And since then, he had to bear with all her requests for him to smile.

As the youkai chattered behind them, probably discussing what just transpired between him and Wakana, he watched the night scenery. The reason he was making the "unhappy face" was because he remembered how he used to always do this, going out with his Hyakki and watching the night sky, with Yamabuki. Then he heard Wakana's voice.

"So Rihan-san…how old are you?"

"Hm?" he replied, confused by the sudden question.

"I'll live longer than Rihan-san, so I can always look out for you!" Wakana suddenly declared, a loving smile on her face.

* * *

><p>"You actually said that?" Rikuo said in disbelief. Everyone knew youkai would definitely outlive humans, and well…<p>

"You know, even though at that time, I only said it on a whim, just to cheer him up… I can't believe it actually came true, even now." Wakana said, a sad look on her face.

"Yeah…" Rikuo replied.

"But at your dad's funeral, Kubinashi told me that after I left, your dad actually smiled for the first time since Yamabuki-san left. A genuine smile, not a smile to stop people from worrying, or a smile of courtesy. And he told me that I should never regret what I said. Really, that Kubinashi, looking out for me even though he should be the one who more saddened by your dad's death."

An uncomfortable silence formed between mother and son as they were lost in their own thoughts. Then Wakana spoke.

"Well, we were talking about a love story, it shouldn't be this depressing, right? I'll continue the story later okay? Let's do the shopping first." Rikuo snapped out of his thoughts when he heard the word 'shopping'. They had already reached the market, but because they were talking the whole time, he hadn't realized it.

"Yeah, let's go." Rikuo answered and both of them entered the market.

* * *

><p><strong>Pika318: <strong>And I'm done with this chapter! I'm so sorry I ended the chapter on such a depressing note even though it was supposed to be a 'happy' romance story. And yes, I included the manga scene because that was one of the scenes that eventually inspired me to put this down on paper. It'll be a few hours till Moko-chan comes home, so I'll update first without letting her read through and put in her comments here.


	4. Marriage

**Pika318: **And here is Chapter 4! I actually wanted to end Wakana's story this chapter but the scene kept getting longer and longer that I thought "Forget it". Well, more chapters means happier readers! I hope.

**Disclaimer: **Nurarihyon no Mago belongs to Shiibashi-sensei.

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><p><strong>Chapter 4: <strong>Marriage

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><p>"This should last us for a few weeks. Since you came along, I could afford to buy more." Wakana commented cheerfully as she and Rikuo exited the market, carrying about four to five bags each.<p>

The bags did not contain fruit, vegetables or meat, as those were delivered by straight to the Main House by other youkai. They contained items which would be more easily obtained in a human market, seasonings like sugar, salt and pepper, amongst other things.

Rikuo was glad he had developed muscles through training as well as helping out at school. He was carrying the heavier bags, and was quite surprised when he realized he didn't have to strain that much carrying them.

"Is it heavy?" Wakana asked, in concern. "I could help you carry one or two bags, since mine are lighter."

"It's fine, mom. I can handle it. More importantly, I really want to know if dad started dating you after that." Rikuo said, wanting to take his mom's attention off the amount of weight he was carrying. If not, she'll just insist on helping him, which would be really awkward, in his opinion.

"Hmm, you really want to know that much? I guess I should continue where I left off then." Wakana complied with Rikuo's request.

"Well, another week passed after that, and things just went on as usual, with your dad visiting me and me going out at night with him. Then one day…"

* * *

><p>"Say Wakana…" Rihan said as he put down the empty cup.<p>

"What is it?" Wakana asked as she took the empty cup from Rihan.

"Tomorrow, let's go to my house."

"Okay."

There was a long pause, then Rihan asked.

"Aren't you going to ask why?"

"Well, it's been 3 months since you started coming to my house, Rihan-san. I figured that you probably are sick and tired of coming to this small apartment all the time. And well…after hearing so much about your family, I guess I'm curious about your house too, since it would have to be a really huge one to fit all of you." Wakana explained.

"Oh okay. Then I'll come and get you tomorrow."

Wakana nodded. "I guess you're leaving now then?" she asked. Rihan always left after he finished his tea after all.

"Yeah, you sure you don't want to take a walk today as well?"

"I would love too, but I have so many assignments to finish." Wakana said, smiling in an apologetic manner before continuing, "I'll see you out, just let me put away these cups first."

Rihan had to stifle his laughter as Wakana entered the kitchen. At first, he found it strange that Wakana insisted on seeing him to the door when it was only a few steps away. But now, he just found that polite trait of Wakana really cute and endearing.

Looking towards the altar where her parents rested, he simply said,

"Wish me luck."

"Hmm, Rihan-san, did you say something?"

"No, nothing."

_The next day_

Nurarihyon paced around restlessly. His idiotic son had disappeared somewhere again, and even though Kubinashi told him not to worry, it wasn't as if he was worried about his son's safety.

Nurarihyon knew he had told his son to take his time to recover before finding someone that would make him happy, but that didn't stop him from getting anxious. Decades had already passed since Yamabuki's disappearance, and yet, his son showed no sign of wanting another mate. It was frustrating. Nurarihyon wasn't getting any younger.

_Maybe I should just kidnap a random girl from somewhere and introduce her to Rihan._

As if on cue, he heard several voices from outside, his idiotic son probably came home. Feeling that he needed to have a good talk with his son, he left his room and walked towards the front yard. That was when he saw it.

Amongst the group of youkai which had gathered at the front door, he saw Rihan with his arm over the shoulder of a young girl who couldn't be older than 18. The girl was currently greeting the youkai while looking very amazed by her surroundings.

_He really kidnapped a random girl!_

Nurarihyon walked up to Rihan quickly, with the other youkai getting out of his way as he approached. Rihan noticed him approaching.

"Hey…" Without even a chance to finish his greeting, Rihan found himself pulled away by his dad, with Nurarihyon's arm around his neck. Given their current height difference, it was rather suffocating.

"Cough…what the heck is your problem, old man?" Rihan hissed as Nurarihyon finally let go.

"Who is she?" Nurarihyon asked, pointing at Wakana.

"Oh right, you don't know yet, that's Wakana."

"I don't mean that! You didn't kidnap her off the street right?"

"Huh? Why would I do something like that? I saved her once before and we became friends."

"Friends?" Nurarihyon asked, looking for a confirmation.

"Yeah, friends. That was in the past though. Hey Wakana, come here for a bit."

Wakana turned, hearing Rihan call her name. Excusing herself from the other youkai, she went up to Rihan.

"Wakana, this is my dad." Rihan said, introducing Nurarihyon to her.

"Ah, my name's Wakana. Nice to meet you." Wakana said bowing. Staring at Nurarihyon for a while longer, she commented to Rihan, "Rihan-san, your dad is really small. With you like that, I expected him to be taller, you know."

"Pfft!" Rihan tried to suppress his laughter at Wakana's comment but failed miserably as Nurarihyon struggled to continue being civil despite the innocent insult thrown in his direction. Wakana simply looked confused as Rihan's reaction.

Finally Rihan said, "Wakana, my dad might look like this, but he used to be the Supreme Commander of Youkai, you should be more respectful."

"He's a youkai?" Wakana asked, turning to the wizened old man in front of her.

"Yeah." Rihan replied.

"…Eat?"

"Huh?"

"I mean, you didn't bring me here to get eaten right?" Wakana asked as she turned to Rihan stiffly, like she had frozen in fright.

"What? Of course not."

"Then…what did you bring me here for?"

Rihan smirked as Wakana asked the question. He had been waiting for an opportunity and it had just arrived.

"Dad." Rihan said, turning to Nurarihyon. His serious tone of voice caused everyone in the vicinity to pay attention.

"I'm planning to marry her."

There was a long pause before…

"WHATT?" Everyone exclaimed once again. How many times did their leader plan to surprise them?

However, they were not the only ones who were in shock. Wakana froze after hearing what Rihan said. After ten seconds…

"Huh? Did you say…marry?" Wakana asked.

"Yes."

"To me?"

"Yes."

"Eh? You and me…get married?"

"Yes."

Wakana finally seemed to snap out of her shock, and close to shouted, "What happened to dating?"

"We can always deal with that after marriage." Rihan replied casually.

"People normally date BEFORE marriage, Rihan-san!" Wakana insisted.

"Well, if you're so concerned about that, the past few months did count as dating."

"No it doesn't!"

"It doesn't? But I already asked your parents, and I'm pretty sure they said it was okay."

"You asked my parents, when?" Wakana asked, confused.

"Yesterday, when you were in the kitchen."

"That…" Wakana was about to continue protesting when Rihan spoke again.

"Ehhh…don't tell me you don't like me…" Rihan asked in a half whiny, half teasing tone.

"No! That's not it…I…actually…like Rihan-san…a lot." Wakana replied, stuttering as her brain tried to keep up with the rapid developments.

"Then it's fine, we can get married." Rihan answered, smiling.

_My idiotic son is too capable…just like me._

Nurarihyon thought, smirking, as watched a blushing Wakana try to hit Rihan in frustration.

* * *

><p>"Well, I agreed in the end, but it was still a big shock when your dad proposed." Wakana concluded.<p>

Rikuo nodded. Even when his dad proposed, it was really sudden, just like his grandfather. Silently, he resolved, if he ever had a girl he liked, he was going to date that girl normally before proposing to her. He was definitely not going to follow in the footsteps of his father, or grandfather, for that matter.

"We ended up having a simple wedding…well, a simple wedding, by youkai standards. By human standards, it'll just be a really big party. Luckily, your mom didn't have any close relatives or friends, because if I invited them to the wedding, they'll think I married into a Yakuza family or something. It was that grand and lively." Wakana continued, smiling at the memory.

"I see." Rikuo commented, smiling. He could imagine all the youkai celebrating, happy that his dad finally remarried after a long period of depression. "Thank you for telling me this, mom."

"You're welcome. But I think you're misunderstanding something, dear. I'm not done with the story yet."

"You're not?" Rikuo asked, confused.

"Of course, there's still so much to talk about. Like when I was pregnant with you."

"Ah okay." Rikuo said, feeling awkward. His mother is really enthusiastic about this.

* * *

><p><strong>Pika318: <strong>And in the end, I only managed to write one very long flashback scene where Rihan "proposed". Hope it's not too short for you.


	5. Wishes

**Pika318: **This might come as bad news to some of you, but this would be the last chapter of "The Carp and the Bud". Why? Because I ran out of scenes to write, naturally. It's more than twice as long than usual because it just kept getting longer and longer and I couldn't find a good place to cut it, so I simply decided to make this my last chapter. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **Nurarihyon no Mago belongs to Shiibashi-sensei.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 5: <strong>Wishes

* * *

><p>"Actually, I only wanted to know why you and dad got married. So, erhm, you don't have to talk about your pregnancy." Rikuo said as he attempted to dissuade Wakana from continuing her story. It was hard to explain, but he felt that listening to stories of when his mother was pregnant with him might be just as embarrassing as hearing stories of his childhood.<p>

"Why are you so reserved all of a sudden, Rikuo? I don't mind talking about it at all. You don't know a lot about your dad, so I thought that I should just tell more stories since we're still quite some distance from home. And don't you want to know how I heard about Yamabuki-san?"

"I guess I do…wait, you heard about Yamabuki-san when you had me?" Rikuo asked in surprise. He hoped that his parents didn't get into a fight.

"Yes, I did." Wakana replied. Rikuo couldn't tell if she was angry or not, and that made him kind of nervous. "But I'll save that incident for later. Let's just start with the morning I woke up feeling unwell…"

* * *

><p>It was an indescribable feeling. Wakana felt nauseous and slightly dizzy, but she was sure she didn't eat anything strange the day before. And by now, she was rather used to the food served in the house, so it couldn't be food poisoning. Looking up at a very concerned Rihan, she smiled, trying to reassure him.<p>

"I'm fine, Rihan. You don't need to worry so much." Wakana said. Both of them were currently at the clinic. Not the one ran by the Yakushi Clan, but a normal human clinic. When Rihan first noticed Wakana's discomfort, he had wanted to summon Yakushi-san, but she had insisted on visiting a normal human clinic in case it was just a minor illness. She didn't want the Nura Clan family doctor to make such a long trip for that, and the human clinic wasn't that far away anyway. Rihan respected her wishes, and that was how they ended up here.

"Are you sure you're okay? You might not have noticed, but you're really pale you know." Rihan answered worriedly. He would have used his healing gift, but the problem was that, he didn't even know the cause of Wakana's condition.

"I'm sure it's just a minor ailment, Rihan. Ah, it's my turn now." Wakana said as her name was called. "Stay outside okay? I'll be out soon." She said to Rihan before entering the doctor's room.

Rihan then spent the next moments fretting and waiting anxiously for Wakana to re-appear from the doctor's office. Eventually, after what seemed like an eternity, he heard her voice.

"Thank you doctor." Rihan turned in her direction quickly. She still looked pale, and even had a plaster on her arm.

"How is it?" Rihan asked anxiously.

"…Ah, it's nothing much. We do have to come back here two days later though. It'll heal soon, Rihan, so you don't have to do anything." Wakana explained while stopping Rihan from using his healing gift on her arm.

"It's nothing much, but you still have to come back? You're not making sense…" Rihan replied, confused.

"It's really nothing serious, Rihan. They suspected something, and took a blood test, and we need to come back to hear the results, that's all."

"If you say so…"

_An anxious two days later_

The doctor observed the odd couple sitting opposite him in his office. The lady, according to his records, just graduated from high school. The man with her, with a worried look on his face, seemed to be in his early thirties. They couldn't be father and daughter right? But if they were dating or worse, married, they were this close to defying the law…

The doctor cleared his throat.

"Before I give you the results, can I ask…how are the two of you related?"

"Hmm? We're married." Wakana replied, confused as to why the doctor asked the question at all.

There was a pause.

"Oh, is that it?" The doctor said, trying to keep his professional face intact. He had to be understanding. Even in a modern Japan, there were still girls who marry young, and to older men. Be understanding, he repeated this to himself like a mantra.

Rihan didn't know what the doctor was thinking, but the silence was getting uncomfortable. Like the doctor didn't want to tell them the results of the so called blood test Wakana had taken.

"Is there anything wrong with Wakana?" Rihan asked, a serious look on his face.

The doctor turned to Rihan. "No, there's nothing wrong with her. In fact…" the doctor paused once more, as if he was thinking about how he was going to break the news.

"Both of you are going to be parents."

It took some time for the news to sink in, but the doctor expected that. Eventually, the lady spoke,

"I'm pregnant?"

"Yes, miss, you are. It's still the early stage of your pregnancy, but seeing that you're already suffering from nausea, I think it would be good to prescribe some supplements for you…" the doctor was about to continue his sentence when he heard the man speak.

"I'm going to be a father?"

The doctor stopped in the middle of his sentence. He had seen a lot of guys react that way. All he had to do now was to answer this man.

"Yes, you are, congratulations."

What happened next shocked even the doctor. He had seen so many couples pass through his office, and pretty much all the time, the husbands would jump up in joy when the shock finally passed and hug their wives. But this time…

"Oh my god…" Rihan said to himself, tears streaming down his face, as he slumped backwards in his chair.

Wakana turned to Rihan, concerned. She knew that he could be very emotional at times, but he never reacted like this in public. "Rihan, are you okay?"

"…I'm fine, Wakana. But it's just that…I waited many years for a child, but nothing came out of it, and finally…with you…I'm really happy." Rihan explained, finally calming down after he finished speaking.

Wakana was about to comfort Rihan, when she noticed the bewildered look on the doctor's face.

The doctor was confused. The man couldn't have looked older than 35, yet he said he waited many years…? And that reaction that he only saw with patients who were in their late forties…

"Ah doctor, please don't mind my husband. The shock must have messed up his speech. This is our first child after all…ahaha." Wakana said, trying to convince the doctor that it was just an honest mistake. "You were saying something about supplements?" Wakana continued, trying to distract the doctor.

"Oh yes, supplements. I will ask the nurse to provide you with some of them to help you tide over your morning sickness. And should I recommend a gynecologist for you as well?" he asked.

"Ah, there's no need for that, doctor. We have our own family physician." Rihan declined politely.

"Is that so?" The doctor answered, raising an eyebrow.

_If they have their own family doctor, then why bother coming to see me?_

He wisely kept his comments to himself, as usual. Having their own family doctor means that they're probably wealthy, and people like that tend to be hard to deal with.

"Then that would be all for now. You can collect your medicine outside."

* * *

><p>"I can't believe dad actually cried…" Rikuo said in wonder. Rikuo's blurry memories of his father consisted of him being cool and dependable, and hearing about him getting that emotional was really surprising.<p>

"You'll understand when you become a father, Rikuo." Wakana said, giggling. "Which reminds me, how are things going with Kana-chan?"

"Huh? What do you mean by 'things'?" Rikuo asked, getting more nervous by the second.

"You know what I mean, Rikuo. I mean, are both of you dating already?"

"Dating? Mom, we're both still in middle school!" Rikuo exclaimed, wondering where his mother got that idea from.

"Ah ha, you didn't deny anything. So, that means you like her and you want to date her in future right?" Wakana concluded, smiling.

Rikuo's eyes widened as he realized that he had fallen straight into his mother's trap. "We're just friends, mom." He said, trying to hide his embarrassment by turning his face the other way. He also made a mental note to make sure Ryota Neko kept quiet about his 'outing' with Kana, because given his mother's current reaction, he was sure she would harp about that for a long time. He needed to change the topic, now, before he said something he couldn't take back.

"So…what happened after you visited the doctor? I'm sure you told everyone the good news, and they probably celebrated or something." Rikuo said. The best way to distract his mother now was to get her to continue her story.

"Hmm, trying to avoid any questions about your relationships are you…ah, nevermind, I'm still young, so I can wait a while longer before becoming a grandmother."

Rikuo laughed nervously. Rather than being relieved that his mother was dropping her line of questioning, he was more freaked out by the fact that his mother was already thinking about becoming a grandmother when she is only 30 years old.

"Answering your question though, yes, we did announce the good news once we returned home. But we didn't have a big celebration."

* * *

><p>"Wakana-sama is pregnant? Let's celebrate!" Most of the youkai cheered as they heard the news. Some were even running to the kitchen to get the wine.<p>

"Ah, please wait a moment. Can we not celebrate just yet?" Wakana said, almost pleading. The youkai stopped hearing that.

"Eh, why not, Wakana-sama?"

"Erhm, because well, it's still early, and a lot of unpredictable things can happen, so…I was thinking that we could celebrate after the child is born…" Wakana tried to explain. It was actually a bad omen to celebrate before the first trimester is over, but that would be really hard to explain to youkai, so she just settled for her current explanation.

"Ehhh, but we should celebrate whenever we can…" some of the smaller youkai protested.

"You guys just want an excuse to drink and party, don't you? Look, if Wakana says to wait, then we'll wait." Rihan finally said, dashing the hopes of partying from the youkai's minds.

"If Rihan-sama says so as well…" the youkai finally conceded.

* * *

><p>"So in the end, we simply had something a little better for dinner. Tsurara-chan even made sure I had something warm for dinner, and promised that she'll let Kejorou-san handle my meals from now on, since eating cold meals would not be good for me."<p>

Rikuo sort of understood. Tsurara cooked delicious food, but the temperature was something to be desired. If only Kejorou made his lunches as well…

"Ah, it was after dinner that I found out about Yamabuki-san." Wakana added, like she just remembered.

"You…didn't get angry or anything, did you?" Rikuo asked hesitantly. His mother was good natured, but it was really hard to predict how women will react when they find out that they were not the only woman in their husband's life.

"Of course not, Rikuo. What kind of person do you think I am?" Wakana answered cheerfully.

"…" Rikuo decided not to answer that question. Normally it was the people who were nice and cheerful most of the time who would be really scary when they were angry.

"So how did you find out?" he asked eventually, feeling curious now that he knew that it was not a sensitive topic to his mother.

"Like I said, it was after dinner, with your dad and I were in our room…" Wakana answered, continuing her story.

* * *

><p>"It still feels like a dream." Rihan admitted, after making sure Wakana was resting comfortably.<p>

"So it's the same for you too? I haven't gotten over the shock either." Wakana confessed as well, embarrassed.

"I guess we don't have to worry so much, there are still quite a few more months to go right?"

"8 more, if I have a normal pregnancy. While we're on this topic though, I want to ask you something."

"Hmm, what is it?"

"At the clinic just now, you said something about waiting for a child for 20 years…does that mean you married someone before?" Wakana asked, trying to broach the topic as gently as possible.

Rihan momentarily froze at her question. At the time when he said that, he wasn't really thinking straight, or more like, he wasn't thinking at all. And now his carelessness was coming back to bite him. What seemed like an uncomfortable silence passed between them before Wakana finally said.

"I won't get angry, Rihan. In fact, I'll be really surprised if you haven't married anyone before me."

"Huh, really?" Rihan asked, surprised. He had really thought that she was going to get upset.

"Really. You're probably a few hundred years old, and I'm only seventeen. If you haven't married anyone before me, I'll be really worried."

"Worried? About what?" Rihan asked yet again, getting more confused by the moment.

"That you're not interested in women." Wakana replied.

"What?" Rihan exclaimed before he started to laugh, holding on to his stomach because it was starting to cramp. Wakana was really too unpredictable.

"So? You did marry someone before right?" Wakana asked again, this time in open curiousity.

"Yeah…yeah I did." Rihan replied after his laughing fits subsided.

"I guess she must be an amazing person then, being able to handle a person like you." Wakana commented.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" Rihan protested, feeling slightly offended.

"Oh nothing." Wakana said, in a rather flat tone. "So what was she like? How did you meet?" she asked.

"You really want to know?"

Wakana nodded, watching him in anticipation. Rihan felt himself giving in.

_If it's Wakana, would I finally be able to move on…?_

Whether or not he would be able to in the end, he needed to try. It wouldn't be fair to Wakana if he didn't. Opening his mouth, he started his story.

"Well…her name is Yamabuki Otome. I found her by herself, and it was raining lightly at that time…"

* * *

><p>"And that was when I heard about Yamabuki-san. You heard about her from Grandpa, right?"<p>

"Yeah, I did." Rikuo answered. Honestly, he felt that his mother was amazing, since she was able to get his father to talk about Yamabuki, even though he was so obviously hurt by her leaving.

"I'm glad I got your father to talk about Yamabuki-san though. Because after that, it was as if a weight had finally lifted off his shoulders, and according to the other youkai, he was back to his old self, well, not totally though."

"Why not?" Rikuo asked.

"That's because he has bigger responsibilities compared to before, Rikuo. He had you to worry about now." Wakana explained.

"Oh…" Rikuo answered, understanding.

"Luckily, Yakushi-san, ah I meant Zen-kun's father, read about human pregnancies, thanks to the records his father, Zen-kun's grandfather, left about his experience with your grandmother. So I didn't have to go to a gynecologist and had a rather uneventful pregnancy. I had a safe birth too, of course. You were really cute. Everyone was really happy as well."

Rikuo nodded. From the way everyone showered their affections onto him when he was growing up, he knew how much they were looking forward to his birth. But…

"Weren't they happy simply because Nura Gumi finally had an heir?" Rikuo asked. He knew he could come across as being rather mean for doubting his family like that, but given how Yamabuki was so pressured to produce an heir that she finally left, he sometimes wondered if his family didn't love him because of who he is as a person, but because of who he would be in the future.

"It's not like that, Rikuo…" Wakana started to say, but as she saw the conflicting emotions on Rikuo's face, she knew what she had to do. Tell him the truth and nothing else.

"I guess it was like that, in the beginning." Wakana finally admitted. "But that doesn't mean the love that they gave you were not real, Rikuo, don't ever think that. Everyone tried their best to accept you as you are, especially after your father made his decision."

"What…decision?"

"It was after you were born, perhaps a few weeks later, maybe a month or so…"

* * *

><p>Rihan was watching over Rikuo in his cot, coaxing him to sleep as Wakana went to get a short rest, deep in thought as he did so. He didn't even notice when Wakana entered the room, at least until she waved a hand in front of his face.<p>

"Rihan, if you space out like that, you might end up hurting Rikuo by accident you know." Wakana reminded him kindly as he snapped out of his thoughts.

"I'm sorry." Rihan apologized, feeling honestly regretful about it. And after he resolved to be a better father than his own too…

"I forgive you, Rihan. Are you tired? You still have to lead the Nura Gumi on top of helping me take care of Rikuo…"

Rihan simply nodded, almost losing himself in his thoughts again. Almost, because Wakana promptly reached out and…

"Smile, Rihan. Don't tell me you forgot simply because I didn't remind you." Wakana scolded, stretching his cheeks and letting go after a while.

"Ow…" Rihan said as he rubbed his face. He had forgotten how much it hurt.

"So, what's bothering you?" Wakana asked.

"Huh? Nothing…nothing's bothering me."

"Hmm, really? You won't be making that face if nothing's bothering you, Rihan." Wakana said, suspicion on her face.

_Really, I can't hide anything from her._

"We agreed we'll share our problems, didn't we?" Wakana reminded him. They had made that vow when both of them got married.

_I'll have to tell her eventually, anyway…_

"I've been thinking for a while…but our son, he's a quarter youkai, meaning that he's more human than youkai…"

Wakana nodded, waiting for Rihan to continue as he sorted out his thoughts.

"All my life, since I married Yamabuki, I had told myself that I was going to work hard, and build up the clan, so that any child I have will be born into a prosperous family, and enjoy what I worked hard to build. But…I'm not so sure if that's the right thing to do anymore."

"Why not?" Wakana asked, confused. Working hard to build a solid foundation for their child, it couldn't be a bad thing.

"Unlike before, this is modern Japan. Humans are prospering, and the presence of youkai are getting thinner and thinner. I am working hard, and so is everyone else, but I know, and everyone is aware as well…little by little, youkai are losing their fear. And with Rikuo, I feel that…he is the embodiment of that. Even now, I can't feel any trace of youki from him."

"Isn't that because he's still young?"

"That's what I thought at first. But then, thinking about it, that's not it at all. Dad used to say that he knew that I would grow up to be a splendid youkai even though I'm only a half youkai, because…he could feel my youki ever since I was born and even before I could even walk, I was already subconsciously using my youki to protect myself. Rikuo here…is not like me at all. And so…"

Rihan closed his eyes, gathering his thoughts, and when he finally opened them again, it shone with renewed determination.

"Wakana, I've decided. When our child is growing up, I would not force him to become the Third Heir, or even influence him in any way towards that decision. Evenif…even if Rikuo decides to abandon his youkai side, I won't stop him. I'll tell the rest of the family to do so as well, even dad."

"Don't you think…it's a bit early for that? You don't have to take action so soon, Rikuo isn't even…"

"It's never too early!" Rihan started to shout but stopped himself when he saw Rikuo stir.

He breathed deeply to help himself calm down. "I'm sorry." He apologized to Wakana for losing his temper.

"It's okay, Rihan. I believe you have a lot on your mind, just let it out." Wakana said in understanding

So Rihan continued, with a more even tone this time. "If I don't start doing this now, the rest of the family will naturally pile their hopes onto our child here. I don't want him to grow up in that environment and end up thinking that his only purpose in life is to succeed the family. He's three quarters human, which to me, is just about as human as you, Wakana. It won't be fair, not leaving him a choice to live a normal human life like you did while you were growing up."

A long silence passed between them, before Wakana opened her mouth and said,

"You really thought carefully about it, didn't you?"

"Yes."

Seeing his determined expression, Wakana finally agreed. "If that is what you really think, then I'll support you. After all, if both of us insist on it, the rest of them can't really say otherwise, can they?"

"Thank you, Wakana."

"You're welcome." Wakana said cheerfully before adding, "Besides, I already planned to send him to school when he's old enough anyway."

"You were?" Rihan asked, surprise on his face.

"Yep. I was so afraid that you wouldn't understand my decision, but since you already decided that you want our son to have a normal human life, well, as much as possible since this is a youkai family, then it's not a problem anymore. Thanks for solving my problem too, Rihan."

Rihan could only smile awkwardly at that.

* * *

><p>"The rest of the family were quite shocked at first, but eventually we managed to convince all of them to refrain from talking about youkai matters when they're around you. It wasn't easy though, considering that this is a youkai household. And after your father died…it almost looked like they were going to ignore his wish altogether, Grandpa especially."<p>

Rikuo knew. After his father's death, his grandfather always told him about the heroic tales of youkai, like he was hoping for something to happen with Rikuo's continued exposure to his stories.

"But I couldn't do anything about it, because I knew, Grandpa was getting old, and the leader they thought they were going to have for at least another hundred years died suddenly, they were desperate for a successor, for the clan's survival. And when you decided that you were not going to succeed and went to school like any normal child, it was happy, yet sad too. It was really conflicting."

"You were happy that dad's wish was coming true, which was giving me that choice to choose…but you didn't want his life's work to go to waste as well, isn't that right?" Rikuo said, understanding his mother's feelings clearly.

Wakana sighed. "That's right. But after such a long struggle with yourself, you finally decided to accept both your human and youkai side, and being good at both of them. And seeing you becoming the Third Heir…made me really happy. Because your father's effort finally paid off."

_Even if he isn't here to witness it._

"Ah, I can see our house. That was really a long walk wasn't it? Thank you for accompanying me." Wakana said as they walked along the path leading to the gate of their home.

"It's nothing. I'm glad I had this talk with you, mom." Rikuo said in return, looking grateful.

Just then both of them heard a voice.

"Ah, Wakana-sama, Rikuo-sama, both of you are back!" They turned to the voice, it was Tsurara. She ran up to them, taking the bags from both Wakana and Rikuo. Rikuo stared as she did it effortlessly. How strong was Tsurara, anyway?

"So did both of you enjoy your walk…I mean shopping trip?" Tsurara asked cheerfully.

"I guess it was okay." Rikuo answered, confused about why she asked in the first place.

"Did both of you have a good talk?"

"Yeah…why did you ask?" Rikuo answered again, getting more bewildered with every question Tsurara asked.

"That's great! Then I'll take this to the kitchen." Tsurara said before she left mother and son behind, not even answering the question that was asked. Whistling cheerfully, she silently congratulated herself on a job well done.

Why? Because her "Get Wakana-sama and Rikuo-sama some bonding and talk time" plan actually worked, of course.

**END**

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><p><strong>Pika318: <strong>To anyone who is still unclear because I'm rather bad at writing endings, this is the last chapter. On another note, I'm actually thinking of writing a short short omake about how Tsurara (and Kejorou) came up and implemented with the "Get Wakana-sama and Rikuo-sama some bonding and talk time" plan, but it's a little extra, and not yet a solid idea. So I'm thinking of asking you readers. If you want me to write the omake, feel free to drop me a review.

Thank you everyone who put this on favourites and story alert, as well as those who even went as far as putting me on author's alert, and especially the loyal reviewers, of course. Well then, until next time (if any)


	6. Omake

**Pika318: **Okay, this is the short short omake that I promised in the last chapter of the main story. Which would be how Tsurara came up with her plan to have Wakana and Rikuo have some bonding time. Enjoy!

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><p><strong>Chapter 6: Omake<strong>

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><p>Tsurara frowned as she heard Rikuo's voice from outside the kitchen.<p>

"I'm back!"

Apparently, he was saying that to his mother, Nura Wakana, as he passed by her on the corridor on the way back to his room after returning home from school. It was frustrating, to say the least.

"Kejorou," Tsurara said, addressing the other lady in the kitchen with her, "Don't you think that all Rikuo-sama's been saying to Wakana-sama lately seems to be restricted to 'I'm going' and 'I'm back'?"

"Hmm, I guess so…" Kejorou answered. Being in the kitchen for long periods of time meant that they heard a lot of things, since everyone needed to pass by the kitchen to get to the living quarters at the back of the compound. "What about it?"

"Don't you feel that something's really wrong about that? Wakana-sama and Rikuo-sama are mother and son, they should be talking more. Especially since they only got each other!" Tsurara said agitatedly.

"No they don't…" Kejorou replied as she silently hoped that Tsurara did not ruin the vegetables she was cutting at the moment. "But besides that, you do have a point, they're really talking too little, but…isn't that because we're the ones taking up Rikuo-sama's time?"

"Erhm…" Tsurara said, looking rather ashamed for a moment. "I guess you're right, but you don't have to rub it in like that, Kejorou."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Kejorou said, but she didn't really sound that sincere, at least in Tsurara's opinion.

"A..Anyway, I was thinking that we should make up for it." Tsurara suggested.

"Make up for their lost bonding time, you mean? How?"

"I'm still thinking about it, like we should make an excuse for Wakana-sama and Rikuo-sama to spend some alone time together."

"Alone time huh? Well, that means it can't take place anywhere in the house then, since everyone goes where they like here, so they could be interrupted anytime."

"Then that simply means we need to think of a way to get Wakana-sama and Rikuo-sama out of the house at the same time."

"Like a long walk?" Kejorou suggested.

"Something like that, but convincing them to go for a long walk together without arousing their suspicion isn't going to be easy…" Tsurara said as she looked down at the vegetables she was cutting. Just as she did that, a thought struck her.

"Shopping…it won't be that suspicious if we convinced Wakana-sama to go shopping for us right?"

"It would, considering that we're the ones normally doing the shopping without complaint, Tsurara." Kejorou gently reminded the Ice Maiden.

"Oh yeah…then how about I make myself unavailable, like I went to help the Arawashi Clan instead? And you can just nicely ask Wakana-sama to do the shopping since you're the only left in the kitchen?"

"Hmm…possible. Wakana-sama always passes by the kitchen at certain times of the day. If I looked really busy during that time, she might just agree if I asked her, or volunteer, knowing her helpful nature. Then how about Rikuo-sama? It's not like Wakana-sama would ask Rikuo-sama to go with her."

"Eh? You haven't figured it out yet? I thought Rikuo-sama would be the easiest to handle. You see, if you time it right such that Wakana-sama leaves the house just as Rikuo-sama comes back home from school, he'll be sure to volunteer to help." Tsurara said, in a confident tone.

"What makes you so sure he'll offer to help…?"

"He would! Because he's Rikuo-sama!" Tsurara replied, without a single doubt in her voice.

"Erhm, you sure are confident, Tsurara…Well, I guess if he doesn't offer to help, I can always discreetly mention how much things Wakana-sama has to buy, and hope he takes the bait." Kejorou said, thus solving their problem.

"Okay then! Then the only thing we need to do is figure out the right time to implement our plan!"

So over the next few days, Kejorou observed when Wakana would most likely pass by the kitchen while Tsurara took note of the time when both her and Rikuo reached home. Eventually, both of them decided on the ideal time and hoped for the best.

Luckily for them, it worked the first time, and Wakana really met Rikuo at the gate. Kejorou didn't even have to drop any hints to Rikuo because, like Tsurara confidently assumed, he volunteered to help his mother. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the both of them leave the house together.

Later in the day, Tsurara and Kejorou gave each other a high five when Tsurara reported that both of them really had a good talk.

It was just another day in being a loyal subordinate of the Nura Gumi.

**END**

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><p><strong>Pika318:<strong> It was short, but I hope this clears up any confusion any of you felt about the last part in the previous chapter.


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